


meaningless (i love yous)

by amessagefor_you



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Crushing, Fluff, Hopeless Romantics, Love Confessions, M/M, NCT Dream Ensemble-centric, NCT dream is just a bunch of meddlers, but a fluffy mess, long term crush, norenmin if you squint - Freeform, slight angst, they’re a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:06:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28741467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amessagefor_you/pseuds/amessagefor_you
Summary: everyone knows jisung and chenle love each other, even if they never say it.actions speak louder than words after all.
Relationships: Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 6
Kudos: 65





	1. here, eat something.

**Author's Note:**

> hello! welcome to my first chensung on here. the lowercase is intended, and chensung provides teeth-rotting fluff. this was also written in early 2020, so please bear with me!

it was dark when jisung could finally escape the dorm, but that didn’t really matter as long as he told the manager where he was going. honestly, he was just overwhelmed. their schedule was filling rapidly, and it meant less and less time to recuperate afterwards.

plugging in his headphones, he hummed softly with the music as he entered the store. quickly finding what he wanted, he purchased it and thanked the cashier, who only nodded lazily. 

when jisung got back, the dorm was almost silent except for renjun, who was watching a video on facial expressions. “renjun?” jisung asked, and the older male let out a soft hum, letting jisung know he was listening. “is chenle staying here?”

“yeah, i am,” chenle’s voice said, and jisung looked to see him in the doorway. “why?” 

“it’s late, but i noticed you didn’t eat at the shoot.”

“yeah,” chenle smiled a little warily, curious about where jisung was going with this, but scared he would scold him. he’d already been scolded by jaemin and mark, but instead jisung just held out the bag of food. 

“here. we can’t have you starving.” opening it, chenle could see five samgak kimbap, cone chips, and a banana milk with a strawberry milk. 

“did you pay for this?” chenle asked, and jisung just shrugged. “ji, you didn’t have to.”

“once again, we can’t have you starving.” jisung was about to excuse himself, but chenle grabbed his arm. 

“well then you need to eat too.” knowing he wouldn’t get out of it, jisung just nodded and sat at the table with chenle, who beamed.

“do you want the one with pork belly or tuna?”

“tuna,” jisung replied, knowing he’d grabbed two of those. chenle happily gave it to him, opening the pork belly one for himself.

renjun meanwhile, wrapped up his video and excused himself, saying to the two not to stay up late. they both nodded, and then fell into a comfortable silence, only broken by the crinkle of plastic.

“you looked good today,” chenle said, and jisung looked at him, looking around first to make sure he was talking to him. “yes you,” chenle giggled. 

“thanks,” jisung muttered, smiling a little. “i thought you looked better though. violet hair really suits you.” chenle could only beam at that. 

they were preparing for their first comeback as seven again, which meant more stress was on them to perform well. after all, mark was back, and they wanted to show their growth with and without him. 

in the dim lights, chenle couldn’t help but pause and take in jisung’s features. he had grown into them well, and chenle could remember when he had first met the younger boy, how he’d almost whacked chenle in the face waving so much.

smiling fondly, chenle looked at jisung, who was nibbling on his samgak kimbap as he played a game on his phone. almost subconsciously, chenle scooted closer and leaned on jisung’s shoulder, looking at the screen as well.

it was natural for them to be like this, and chenle loved it. he always liked the feeling of someone else’s warmth, but he especially loved jisung’s, because jisung would always wrap his arm around chenle’s shoulders, pulling him closer and often lulling the smaller boy to sleep.

that’s exactly what happened, and jisung only woke chenle up to move them to the couch, chenle dozing off again, but this time on jisung’s chest.


	2. distracting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the dreamies decide that chensung would make a great couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello ~ how are you? i hope you enjoy this chapter!

“again!” the dance teacher said, and the boys nodded, changing back into their beginning formation. they’d been practicing the dances since five in the morning, and it was well past noon now. “after this we’ll break for lunch!”

“whoever messes up is buying!” donghyuck shouted, and that was met with noises of agreement from the rest of them.

as the music began, their bodies began to move, most of their minds on what was happening. 

well, everyone but jisung. there was a part in the choreography that made his breath stall, and he didn’t know why. but at about one minute in, chenle would jokingly elbow him and wink before turning around, making it so his back was pressed against jisung’s. 

and that part was fast approaching. before he knew it, chenle elbowed his side and jisung stopped moving, his mind in overdrive as he just froze, the steps not coming to mind.

“cut!” the dance director shouted, and all of them groaned. “jisung, are you alright?” 

“yeah, i’m fine,” jisung muttered, feeling his cheeks flush from the attention. 

“we’ll call lunch then,” the dance director said, and donghyuck smiled cheekily. 

“jisung’s paying! so what will we have?” donghyuck asked, and the boys thought, chenle slumping against jisung as he drank water.

it was uncomfortable, but jisung didn’t move from it and neither did chenle. 

“i don’t want to move,” jaemin whined. “so let’s just order delivery.”

“chicken?” jeno asked, perking up as haechan pulled out his phone to order whatever they wished.

“not in the mood,” renjun whined. 

“pizza?” mark asked, and was met with groans. “fine, no pizza.”

“what about bossam?” jeno suggested, and immediately everyone agreed, jisung silently bidding adieu to his wallet. 

“make sure you get extra kimchi!” 

“and cilantro!”

“ooh, add sauce!”

“saewujeot! saewujeot!” 

“make sure there’s extra doenjang!” 

“coleslaw!”

“and rice!”

“do they have candied sweet potatoes?”

“my wallet isn’t that big!” jisung groaned, burying his head in his hands as the older boys quieted.

“so no creamy bean sprout sauce?” chenle said softly, and jisung caved at the pout. 

“you can get that.”

“placed the order!” donghyuck declared, only just realising they were discussing what not to get. “oh. i ordered everything we said.”

“it’s fine,” jisung muttered, calculating the money he had in his head. chenle noticed and his lips drew into a pout, knowing jisung had been saving up to buy them all little gifts. 

well, he knew but he pretended not to know. he was legendary like that.

“i’ll pay,” chenle said quietly, and jisung looked at him, snapping out of his thoughts. 

“no, no, i can’t ask that of you. i messed up.”

“and i can pay for it!” 

“nuh uh!” the bickering continued, renjun eventually noticing and nudging jaemin, who chuckled quietly.

“they’re really like a married couple.” jaemin laughed, and renjun nodded as jaemin got jeno’s attention.

“they sound like a couple on their first date arguing over who’s paying,” jeno smiled. 

“didn’t we agree they’re pretty much married at this point?” donghyuck butted into the conversation, and mark rolled his eyes. “no seriously! you miss all the fights.”

“they bicker over so much, but it’s all harmless.” renjun laughed. 

“what’re you five talking about?” chenle asked, finally noticing the others looking at him and jisung. 

“you two and how you act like a married couple,” jeno said honestly, and they got to watch both of them splutter and turn red.

“we’re really just best friends, you and renjun bicker like this.”

“it’s because i like bickering,” renjun said cheekily. “and besides, jeno’s made out with me.”

“that was once!”

“six times,” renjun responded, and jaemin chuckled at his two crushes. 

“yeah, i don’t want to make out with chenle.” jisung didn’t know why, but it felt like he had just put a rock on his shoulders, and something flickered in chenle’s eyes.

chenle, on the other hand, was confused as to why he felt disappointed. it wasn’t like he wanted jisung to kiss him, it would be weird if he did. 

their thoughts were shaken when haechan got the text that the food was there, and jisung got up to pay, grabbing his wallet, only for chenle to bolt past him, making jisung screech and race after him, chenle beating him and paying the delivery person and taking the food. jisung whined when he caught up with him, protesting that he should have been the one to pay.

“you paid for my food last night,” chenle replied as they got back into the elevator, jisung taking some of the bags that chenle had heaped on his arms.

“i’m going to buy you ice cream for a whole week now,” jisung replied, and chenle smiled, making jisung’s chest feel weird. 

“okay!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! comments and kudos are my lifeblood, so consider leaving one!
> 
> if you want to gently scream at me you can find me on instagram - @roses_for_jeonghan


	3. pinches & practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they’re still whipped for each other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> absolutely teeth rotting fluff... again

“i’m going to practice a bit more, you can go ahead.” chenle didn’t look up from his phone, which he had used to monitor himself, and the rest of the group nodded.

the manager saw that they were tired but - “i’ll stay with chenle, don’t worry.” jisung’s tired voice said, and the manager sighed in relief. 

“i’ll be fine by myself,” chenle protested.

“you know the policy chenle,” the manager said sternly, and chenle whined a little. 

“don’t worry,” jisung smiled. “i won’t be a bother.”

“you never are,” chenle said. “but you can be loud if you play a game!”

“i’ll just watch!”

“i think i’d rather you play a game then,” chenle retorted as the others filed out and the manager told them to lock up when they left, seeing as they were the last ones in the dance area. 

“what part are you struggling on?” jisung asked after chenle watched the video again, his brow furrowed. 

“this one,” chenle played back the video to a specific point, and jisung could see that chenle hadn’t gotten ahold of the footwork yet. not surprising, it had taken him and jeno a whole day of just concentrating on that thirty second piece of footwork to get it correct. 

“if you want help, i can help you.”

“but you’re tired,” chenle said, looking at jisung with his face in a pout. “you need to rest.”

“c’mon chenle, is there ever anything i wouldn’t do for you?” jisung asked, smiling, and chenle felt butterflies flutter through him. 

not that that was new, it was just a thing that happened around jisung.

“you wouldn’t order me bubble tea two days ago.”

“that’s because mark got you bubble tea earlier that day!” 

“why does that matter?” chenle whined, flopping backwards onto jisung and causing the taller boy to fall back into the couches, the breath leaving his lungs as chenle crushed him. “bubble tea is bubble tea!”

“too much is bad for you,” jisung wheezed. 

“hmph,” chenle pouted, and jisung couldn’t help but ruffle his hair, making chenle smile widely. “we should go out and get some soon though.”

“of course,” jisung hummed, getting chenle up. “alright, let’s go over the footwork only.” 

chenle followed jisung’s teachings carefully, groaning when the tempo sped up and he still couldn’t get it.

he pinched his arm, willing for the memory to stick if it was accompanied by some sort of pain, and he squeezed so hard that he was leaving red welts all over his arm. 

“hey,” jisung said, looking back at him through the mirror, and chenle paused, his eyes wide. “stop that.”

“it helps me remember,” chenle muttered, and jisung’s face turned into a frown. 

“let me see.” chenle held out his arm, now covered in red welts, and jisung felt his heart tug. he didn’t want chenle to feel the need to do this whenever he messed up - this choreography was hard, and it wasn’t like they could pick it up overnight. they were human after all.

chenle’s breath caught when jisung’s fingers grazed the welts, and it was only then chenle realised how close they were. not that they hadn’t been close before, but this felt intimate. 

the quiet hums of air conditioning, the artificial lighting, everything just seemed to illuminate jisung even more as he frowned over the welts. “don’t do this again please chenle? i don’t want you hurt.”

chenle tried to speak, but all that came out was a gargled noise, because when jisung had been speaking, he had looked up. 

chenle could have sworn he was staring into the night sky in jisung’s eyes, with the way it seemed to pierce his soul. he could see his reflection, sweaty and lost, in his eyes, and chenle didn’t want to let go of the image of jisung’s eyes.

“please?” jisung asked softly, and chenle could only nod, jisung tearing his gaze away.

he’d wanted to lean into chenle and - well, he didn’t know what he wanted to do, but he’d wanted to do something that made the eruptions of emotions stop. 

or continue, because they weren’t bad emotions. but they were unfamiliar.

and that scared both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i look back at this writing and kinda sigh because one it’s so cute and two, it gives me the urge to write less fluff


	4. dolphin & chick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they go on a date (?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I really suck at notes and summaries

“ya!” chenle screamed, chasing after jisung through the hallways, and jisung just laughed at him, making a face. they were filming an episode of chenji’s this and that, and it was a competition. 

whoever got the armband of the other first got a scooter backpack, and neither wanted to lose.

do you know how awesome it would be to own one? and all they had to do was get an armband off the other. 

they had gone to a school on the weekend, so jisung and chenle were running around in socks and comfy clothes. 

“get back here zhong jisung!” chenle screamed as they pounded up the stairs, the camera crew following them. 

“catch me if you can!” jisung teased, sticking out his tongue cutely. 

“i will!” chenle skidded up the stairs and saw jisung ducking into a classroom, and chenle followed, only for jisung to be waiting behind the door. 

luckily, the staff had told jisung which room to go into since they had put mats on the ground, knowing the boys would wrestle. 

they were right. apparently the want for a backpack that turned into a scooter was far more important than their friendship and idol image, because jisung quickly had chenle pinned to the ground, tickling him, and chenle was flailing like a fish out of water as he screamed. 

jisung was mere centimetres from getting chenle’s off when chenle suddenly stopped struggling and smirked, holding up jisung’s red armband in his hand. 

“how -“

“i won!” chenle crowed, wiggling our from under jisung and bouncing up and down. “see? see? i’m legend! i get a scooter backpack!”

jisung was just sitting there staring at chenle with disbelief, and the crew couldn’t contain their laughter at the confused look on jisung’s face. “how?”

“magic!” chenle giggled, jumping up and down. 

in all reality, it had fallen off during their tussling and chenle had picked it up before jisung had noticed. but it was still a win.

“good job you two,” the manager said, and they nodded. “you have some time now before you have another schedule, so why don’t you take some time to unwind? just make sure you stay together, but there’s a mall two blocks away.”

they nodded, putting on masks and chenle pulled up his hoodie as jisung put on a cap. as they walked out, chenle and jisung both checked for their wallets and phone, which they thankfully had. 

somewhere along the walk, chenle grabbed jisung’s hand, more as a comforting tool than anything else. he did it often in unfamiliar places, and jisung only laced his fingers with his and pulled him closer. 

“where are we going first?”

“i wanted a stuffed animal,” chenle mused. “but i also want a chocolate milkshake.”

“we have enough time for both,” jisung laughed, and chenle looked at him fondly. “let’s get the plushie first.” chenle nodded, tugging jisung towards his favourite store - a cute little stationery shop named Treasure. 

luckily, fans hadn’t spotted them, and so they were able to peruse the selection without much difficulty. jisung, while chenle was very seriously trying to figure out if he should get a lion or pudu stuffed animal (he had the rest of dream’s animals, he was just missing haechan and mark’s. the chick he had was the first one he’d ever gotten, and he had named it Sungie), went over to the counter.

“whatever he wants, pay for it with this card,” jisung said softly, pointing at chenle who was playing eeny, meeny, miny, moe with his eyes clothes. 

“yes sir,” the cashier said just as quietly. “is he your boyfriend?” 

jisung paused, part of him wanting to say yes, but he shook his head no. “just a friend.” the cashier raised an eyebrow, but didn’t press further. 

“jwi,” chenle whined, using jisung’s nickname. “which one?”

“both?” jisung asked, making his way over, only to get distracted by cute stationary. “ooh look! it’s dolphin and chick themed!”

“you love that cartoon huh?” their company had turned the two boy’s antics into a cartoon with their voices, and they were played by a cartoon dolphin and a cartoon chick.

chenle always thought the chick was cuter. just because who would want to see a dolphin? jisung, that’s who. “i love that it’s us in the cartoon,” jisung replied cheekily, choosing a pen that had blue ink and the dolphin character as a topper. 

“o-oh,” chenle managed, hugging the two animals closer. 

“c’mon, just get both,” jisung laughed, and chenle nodded mutely, going up to the counter and handing over the plushies that were too big for any bag.

“don’t you need my card?” chenle asked when the cashier wished him a good day, and the cashier shook his head. “why not?”

“your friend over there paid,” the cashier responded, and chenle looked over to see jisung still staring intently at the dolphin items. 

“oh.” chenle blushed, shyly taking back the items. “thanks.” 

when he toddled over back to jisung, jisung could only smile at the blush on chenle’s cheeks. “you shouldn’t have,” chenle muttered, and jisung just shrugged, startled when chenle used the two stuffed animals to squish him into a hug. “thank you jisung.”

“of course,” jisung smiled, patting chenle’s hood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Consider leaving a comment and/or kudos if you’d like!
> 
> If you want to scream at me my Instagram is @roses_for_jeonghan !


	5. a haunted house & slime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it’s a great idea to put them into a haunted house, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to be honest I kind of forgot I published something on here... whoops!

jisung let out a little scream, jumping at the sudden movement next to him. he was going to scream for real, or pass out, if he had to continue. whoever had thought letting him go into a haunted house for a variety show deserved to be fired. 

“it’s not that scary,” chenle said, and jisung gave him a deadpan look before letting out a yelp as someone shuffled behind the wall. “they’re people ji!” 

“they could be ghosts,” jisung whined, finding chenle in the dark and latching onto him, not caring about the cameras. 

“ah yes, because ghosts would reside in a fun park.” chenle said dryly, and jisung whined against him, nuzzling his face into chenle’s neck and completely missing chenle’s breathing hitch. 

“they could! they could have built around the haunted house knowing that -“ jisung screamed as a ghoul popped out, and chenle held out his hand to shake the ghoul’s.

“hello, thank you,” chenle said, and the ghoul nodded. “see? friendly!”

“i could have died!” jisung claimed, and chenle sighed, pulling jisung closer by looping an arm around his waist. 

“there. now you won’t die.” chenle continued to walk, jisung’s cheeks flame red and his heart about to give out. he didn’t even get shocked when a hand grabbed his shirt, and chenle laughed at him.

“ah, this is serious,” donghyuck said, watching the footage, and renjun smacked him in the back of the head. “ow.”

“shut up and watch them be cute.”

“we have! now the real question is if they’ll actually realise what they’re feeling is more than “friendship.”” 

“they will. it will just take time.”

“then we should pick our favourites and help them!” jeno said, and they all looked at them. 

“no. feelings aren’t always something that we can interfere with. they need to figure it out themselves.” jaemin said. 

“but -“

“no.”

the piercing screams of the two boys startled all of them, and they looked to see slime had been dumped on them. 

“we have to do that?” donghyuck asked, shocked, and their manager shrugged.

“you two can shower in here,” the crew said as the boys nodded, going into the area they indicated. 

“thank goodness we had our mics removed,” chenle muttered, and jisung nodded, trying to get some of the slime off of him. 

“shower,” jisung muttered, getting into one of the stalls and chenle heard the water turn on, jisung yelping about how cold it was. 

“you didn’t even get undressed!” chenle called, and jisung just muttered curses back about how gross his clothes were. 

chenle peeled off his clothes and got in, seeing that they had provided shampoo and conditioner, along with body wash. quickly cleaning himself, chenle grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist, walking out to see jisung reading a note.

“our clothes are in the locker,” jisung looked up to see chenle nodding, seeing his name on a locker and opening it. 

jisung was trying not to look, but chenle looked practically irresistible. he looked back at the lockers and banged his head against the locker door, only to hear chenle make a noise of concern.

when he looked up, chenle was wearing a shirt and underwear, thankfully, and jisung could kinda breathe again.

“you look feverish,” chenle said, trying to see if jisung was just freaking out from the ghosts still or not. 

luckily, there were no cameras, so chenle could easily grab jisung’s chin and pull him back to look at him. 

jisung did look at him, but it was with a weird expression, and chenle didn’t know how to feel about it.

it looked like jisung was either going to throw up or pass out, but at the same time, it looked like jisung wanted him to do something.

“do you need medication?”

“i’m fine,” jisung muttered, pulling out his clothes and smiling wanely at chenle. “i have to get dressed.”

chenle turned away, looking at the other set of lockers, hesitating before talking. “you can tell me anything ji.”

there was silence, and then jisung spoke. “i know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading <3 
> 
> Please leave kudos/comments if you feel like it! 
> 
> If you want to scream at me, my Instagram is @roses_for_jeonghan !


	6. fireworks & makeup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> maybe there’s feelings there?

jisung looked up as the smaller boy hummed softly, making his makeup artist tsk. “sorry,” jisung murmured, looking back at the mirror and ignoring the high-pitched laughter next to him.

“ji got in trouble!” chenle sang, and jisung only rolled his eyes. 

“lele could get in trouble too!” jisung said, and even the simple nickname made chenle flush a soft shade of pink.

jisung was pretty sure he was getting a fever, because seeing chenle advert his eyes and press his hand to his cheek made his cheeks flush and well, he only got flustered when others (read: he only got flustered around chenle) were so it probably meant dream was coming down with a fever.

“well i won’t!” chenle stuck out his tongue again before bouncing off to the snack table, grabbing melon bread and flopping on top of jaemin, who whined that chenle was messing up his game process. 

jisung watched out of the corner of his eye as chenle cuddled closer, whining that it was cold and he wanted cuddles. 

it was cold in the dressing room, which was why, at least in jisung’s mind, when he was done with the makeup, he unlatched chenle from jaemin and put him on his lap instead.

jisung was literally a human heater, so chenle was content with the switch. chenle wrapped his arms around jisung and before figuring he wasn’t warm enough, so he climbed onto jisung’s lap instead, leaning into his shoulder and closing his eyes as jisung played softly with his hair. 

it was kind of unfair how peaceful chenle looked, his breathing even as he snuggled closer to jisung. they’d had a late night preparing, so it wasn’t surprising the smaller boy was sleepy.

last stage, jeno and mark had gotten something wrong, so they stayed up correcting it in order to tighten their performance. 

it wasn’t big enough that anyone really noticed except for their dance instructor and them, but still. 

groaning a little, jisung shifted so he could pull out his phone, opening a game and beginning to play mindlessly, hoping the game would stop him from thinking too much about chenle. 

he’d been doing that lately, thinking too much about chenle. it was causing his heart to speed when chenle smiled or when he laughed jisung felt himself smiling.

it was weird. it was like chenle was slowly enveloping jisung’s every day, and jisung didn’t know if he liked it or not. 

“five minutes until stage!” their manager called, and jisung gently woke up chenle, making the smaller boy at first confused, then he clung to jisung again until jisung pinched his cheeks, making chenle grumble and detach himself.

“it’s just pre recording lele, if we get it done fast then we can come back and sleep some more.” jisung said as chenle’s stylist touched up his makeup, and chenle nodded sleepily. 

taking chenle’s hand when he was done getting ready, jisung led the boy onto stage, seeing him wake up slowly and squeeze jisung’s hand like he didn’t want him to let go.

as soon as the lights hit chenle and jisung though, chenle withdrew his hand and waved at the fans who were going insane that chenle and jisung had arrived together - and holding hands nonetheless.

“begin with the music!” the director said through the microphones, and chenle nodded, watching jisung getting hooked up to his headset and tucking his microphone pouch into his belt, that was currently being put on. 

his face flushed when he caught a glimpse of jisung’s back muscles, and he looked back, practicing a little. 

they waited for the music to begin, getting into their positions, and when it began, they moved was they were used to, singing and dancing.

up until the part where chenle and jisung had their moment. chenle felt the impulse to pinch jisung’s cheek, so he quickly pinched the taller boy’s cheek, seeing jisung smile widely and press his hand to his cheek, continuing his rap as the time continued.

for the rest of the prerecording, chenle and jisung would admire each other, but look away once they were caught, blushing and being teased by other members.

neither of them wanted the feeling of warmth and fireworks to ever leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! sorry for the wait, i was busy with life and other fun things. however i hope you liked it! if you did, please consider leaving a kudo or comment!
> 
> if you want to yell at me, my insta is @roses_for_jeonghan

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! kudos and comments are appreciated <3
> 
> you can come yell at me on instagram: @roses_for_jeonghan


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